Check Your Score:

Math anxiety is an emotional reaction to mathematics based on a past unpleasant experience
which harms future learning. A good experience learning mathematics can overcome these
past feelings and success and future achievement in math can be attained.

Score5–9 Mild anxiety

10–14 Moderate anxiety

15–21 Severe anxiety

What is anxiety?

Anxiety is a word we use to describe feelings of unease, worry and fear.
It incorporates both the emotions and the physical sensations we might
experience when we are worried or nervous about something. Although
we usually find it unpleasant, anxiety is related to the ‘fight or flight’
response – our normal biological reaction to feeling threatened.

We all know what it’s like to feel anxious from time to time. It’s common
to feel tense, nervous and perhaps fearful at the thought of a stressful
event or decision you’re facing – especially if it could have a big impact on
your life.
For example:
•
sitting an exam
•
going into hospital
•
attending an interview
•
starting a new job
•
moving away from home
•
having a baby
•
being diagnosed with an illness
•
deciding to get married or divorced.

In situations like these, it’s understandable to have worries about how you
will perform, or what the outcome will be. For a brief period you might
even find it hard to sleep, eat or concentrate. Then usually, after a short
while or when the situation has passed, the feelings of worry stop.